Wood-conveyer.



PATENTED JAN. 2, 1906.

G. G. HUGHS. WOOD CONVEYER. APPLICATION FILED-00T. 11,1905.

' UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.l

Patented Jan. 2, 1906..

Application led October 11, 1905. Serial No. 282,336.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known thatl, GEORGE G. HUGHs, a citizen ofthe United States,residing at Fort Worth, Texas, have invented a new and ImprovedWood-Conveyer, of which the following is a speciiication.

This invention relates to means for conveying wood or other Objects; andthe object is to provide a practical device for hauling or conveyingwood from a sawing or splitting machine to a convenient place ofstacking the wood.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a conveyer-box whichwill be auto- `matically Opened to let out the load and which Willreturn to starting-point by gravity.

Other objects and advantages will be fully explained in the followingdescription, and the invention will be more particularly pointed out inthe claims.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a side. elevation of the apparatus composing my invention.Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the conveyer box or carrier. Fig. 3 is aplan view of the driving-gear, also illustrating the means forregulating the tension of the suspension trolley-cable. Fig. 4 is adetail view of the hangers for the carrier.

Similar characters of reference are used to indicate the same partsthroughout the several views.

The improved oonveyer is generally Operated from an elevated platform 1.Upright frame-pieces 2 are provided, and a trolleycable spool 3 isjournaled in said uprights by a suitable shaft 4. The trolley-cable 5 isattached to the spool 3 and at the other end is attached to a ost orupright 6 at a point considerably higlihr than the spool 3. The carrier7 is suspended on the cable 5 by means of hangers 3 and trolley-Wheels9. The carrier I7 is moved from place to place by the cable 10, and thecable 10 is mounted on pulleys 11 and 12. The cable 10 runs parallelwith the trolley-cable 5. The pulley 11 is mounted on a shaft l13, whichis ournaled in bearings 14, and the bearings 14 are mounted on the frame15. The pulley 12 is mounted on a shaft 16, which is journaled in thebracket.

frame 17, Which frame is attached to the post 6. The cable 10 isconnected to the hangers S by means of a cross-rod 18. The hangers 8consist of upper parts and lower parts pivotally jointed together, asshown in Fig. 4. The carrier 7 is supported to some extent on .latches34 and weighted levers 35.

the cable 10, this cable being attached to the han ers 3 and pulleys 19being mounted 1n the angers 8 and running on the cable 10. The hangers 3may consist of flat metal bars attached to the carrier 7 and twistedonequarter around above the carrier. The cable 10 is driven by thepulley 11. Pulley 11 has a clutch 20 on the hub thereof. The pulley 11is driven by a sprocket-wheel 21 and chain 22, which may be driven byany suitable power. The sprocket-wheel 21 has a cooperating clutch 23 onthe hub adjacent to pulley 11, and the sprocket-wheel 21 may be thrownin and out of mesh with the pulley 11 by means of a lever 24, which isfulcrumed on the frame 2 and engages the hub of sprocket-wheel 21, thishub having an annular groove in the periphery thereof to be engaged bythe lever 24, and this lever being provided with a yoke 25 for engagingthe groove in the hub of sprocket-wheel 21. The clutches may be thrownin meshas soon as the carrier 7 is loaded. The gearing will deliver thecarrier to its destination. The clutches are then thrown out of mesh.The carrier will then return to starting-point by gravity. Afriction-pulley 26 is mounted on the shaft 13, and a friction-brake 27to operate On said friction-pulley is provided, and a lever23 isprovided foroperating the brake 27. The brake 27 can be used to preventthe carrier from returning with too great speed or force. The tension ofthe trolley-cable 5 may be regulated by the crank 29 and held at theproper tension by the ratchet-wheel 30 and pivoted pawl or dog 31, whichengages the wheel30.

The carrier 7 is preferably constructed as a rectangular box with anangular bottom. The bottom is so constructed that wood placed in the boxwill slide to the lowest part. One-half 32 ofthe bottom is hinged at 33and held in place at the other edge by weighltld e latches 34 havecatches 36, which engage the. edge ofthe bottom piece 32, and theselatches are curved at the front, so that the bottom piece will slide onthe latches to its normal position to be caught by the latches. Theother ends of the latches are weighted, so that the latches will holdthe bottom piece 32 in place. The latches are hinged so that they may betripped by a suitable tripping-bar 33 arranged in the path of thelatches.

carrier is about to pass the bar 33 the barwill trip the latches and letthe bottom swing As the ICO TIO

down and drop the load of wood. As the Wood is stacked up it will intime become as high as the bar, and the wood itself will serve as thetripping-bar. When the load of wood falls from the carrier, the hingedbottom piece will be drawn back to its normal position by theweightedlevers 35, which are fulcrumed on the sides of the carrier. The levers35 are connected to the bottom piece 32 yby link-rods 363/, which arepivotally connected to the levers and which have eyes formed in thelower ends to engage similar eyes formed on straps 37, which may beattached to the bottom piece 32. It will be understood that there is alever 35 on each side of the carrier with connecting-rod 36 strap 37.There may be any suitable number of thelatches 34, rIhese latches arehinged to the bottom piece 38 in any suitable manner. It is necessarytoconstruct the hangers 8 in upper and lower sections and connect the samepivotally to permit freedom of movement of the carrier and to preventbinding.

Various changes may be made in the construction of the apparatus hereindescribed without departing from my invention.

I-Iaving fully described my invention,what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A wood-conveyer comprising a traveling conveyer-box, a trolley-cablehaving one end elevated above the other, hangers attached to said boxand provided with pulleywheels engaging said cable, a driving-cableattached to said hangers, gearing for driving said driving-cable, saidhangers having pulley-wheels engaging said cable, said box having aninclined hinged bottom piece, weighted latches for holding said bottompiece in place, a tripping device in the path of said latches, andweighted levers for bringing said hinged bottom piece back to its normalposition.

2. A wood-conveyer comprising a traveling carrier, an inclined track forsaid carrier, means for moving said carrier, said carrier having abottom consisting of two inclined portions meeting at a line transverseto the movement of the carrier and one of said bottom portions beinghinged, weighted latches attached to the other bottom portion forholding said hinged portion in its normal po sition, a tripping devicein the path of said latches, and weighted levers fulcrumed on the sideof said carrier and having pivotal connections with said hinged bottomportion.

3. A wood-conveyer comprising a traveling carrier, an inclined track forsaid carrier, hangers in two sections pivotally connected together andattached to said carrier and provided with pulleys engaging said track,a driving-cable attached to said hangers at the pivotal connections ofsaid hangers, pulleys for said driving-cable, said hangers havingpulleys engaging the lower traveling part of said cable, means fordriving said cable-driving pulleys, and means for unloading saidcarrier.

4. A wood-conveyer comprising a traveling carrier, an inclined track forsaid carrier consisting of a cable attached to a fixed object at oneend, a spool at the other end thereof for regulating the tensionthereof, means for rotating said spool, a ratchet-wheel and dog forholding said spool against rotation after suitable tension has beenobtained, hangers in two sections pivotally connected together, thelower sections being attached to said carrier and the upper sectionsbeing provided with trolley-wheels engaging said track, a driving cableattached to the pivotal connections of said hangers, pulleys formounting and driving said cable, shafts for said pulleys, one of saidshafts being a driving-shaft, the pulley mounted on said driving-shafthaving a clutch formed on the hub thereof, a sprocket-wheel having acoperating clutch formed on the hub thereof and adapted to engage theclutch of said drivingpulley, means for throwing said sprocketwheel inand out of mesh with said drivingpulley, means for unloading saidcarrier, and means for regulating the speed of said carrier whenreturning to its normal position.

In testimony whereof I set my hand, in the presence of two witnesses,this 30th day of September, 1905.

GEORGE G. IIUGHS.

Witnesses:

A. L. JACKSON, NV. A. DARTER.

